Utraquist school

An utraquist school or utraquist gymnasium is a term for bilingual schools in some countries, in which the subjects were taught both in a state language and in the language of some ethnic minority. The term "utraquist" here is in an analogy with the Catholic concept of utraquism (from Latin: uterque, utraque, "both"/"each (of the two)").

Such schools existed, e.g., in Poland, in areas dominated by Ukrainians and Belarusians ("Kresy Wschodnie"), and in Austria-Hungary/Austria of 19th and early 20th centuries, in the areas of numerous ethnic minorities. In both cases these types of schools were considered to be instrument of ethnic assimilation (Polonization[1] and Germanisation[2] respectively.) In Poland, some other utraquist schools taught in Polish and Yiddish languages. [3]

References

  1. ^ Timothy Snyder, The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569-1999, Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-10586-X, Google Books, p.144
  2. ^ Heinz Dieter Pohl, Die ethnisch-sprachlichen Voraussetzungen der Volksabstimmung (Accessed on 3 August 2006)
  3. ^ Isaac Landman (1939) The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 636: "Utraquist Schools"